Welsh Government commits £34m to GP recruitment

The Welsh Government is investing £34 million in a bid to attract more GPs to North Wales, improve access to GP services and move more services into communities.

More than £23m has been earmarked to implement local primary care plans, improve access to GP services and move care out of hospitals.

A further £5m will be invested in 19 new projects, including a scheme to attract more GPs to parts of North Wales, while more work will be carried out in deprived communities to identify people at increased risk of coronary heart disease and diabetes.

The funding announcement comes as BMA Welsh Council chair Dr Philip Banfield highlighted the current problems that Wales is facing to attract and keep doctors.

In his speech at the BMA’s Annual Representatives Meeting in Liverpool, he said: ‘We must have significant progress on doctors’ pay, putting resources into general practice and addressing the abject failure to recruit doctors into both primary and secondary care.’

He revealed that after 12 years of negotiations, BMA Wales had finally agreed a new disciplinary procedure that aims to ‘unify the process across all doctors’, including those in training.

‘Following the ballot of our members, this has been accepted, which signifies a concrete ability to work with employers and Government to find agreement by collaboration and compromise.’